


stereo hearts

by jenovibez



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Friends to Lovers, Halloween, M/M, im emo sorry, jaesung, noren are kinda dicks, they kiss, theyre adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 16:20:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21211499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenovibez/pseuds/jenovibez
Summary: Every year at halloween jaemin feels like something is out to get himExcept for this year.





	stereo hearts

**Author's Note:**

> ahaha this has been in the works for forever i finally finished it..
> 
> hope you enjoy

halloween has always been the superior holiday to jaemin. 

from when he was ten, when he met donghyuck, jeno and renjun, when they used to dress up together, go out and trick or treat around the neighbourhood. 

the halloween when it was just the four of them, stuck in a haunted house, one of the earliest ones he can remember; the one when he realised that he had a crush on renjun. 

2010

jeno laughs as donghyuck pushes him in front of himself, the younger too afraid to venture any further into the haunted house without anyone going before him. 

"you're such a coward!"

renjun says, laughing out loud along with jaemin, and the elder at him before pushing both of the other boys aside, causing them to both fall into cobwebs and screech like little children. jaemin can't help but let a huge smile appear on his lips. 

renjun takes jaemin's hand, lacing their fingers together tightly so that they can't get separated, pulling him ahead of the two looking back at them as they shake off the fake cobwebs in disgust. 

they've gone in matching costumes, superman, batman, the flash and green lantern that is, and they've all got a bright orange pumpkin bucket each, only half filled with candy as they stumble through the house. 

the two friends run ahead of donghyuck and jeno, past the glowing green sludge and fake cobwebs lining the walls and crawling down the pillars and door frames, laughing together as they finally rush out of the backdoor, back into the chilly night air. 

for a second, the world is quiet, and jaemin sees only renjun, renjun with his pretty brown eyes and dark hair, renjun, with his cute little snaggletooth. 

as the elder looks up at him, jaemin feels a little pang in his heart as he stares back at the shorter boy. but then renjun stands on his tip toes pressing his lips to the younger's with his eyes closed, and jaemin returns the kiss after a second of stunned surprise. 

when he pulls away, he sees the elder looking up with pretty pink cheeks, and jaemin can't help but blush himself when he sees renjun twiddling his fingers. 

perhaps he's always had a crush on renjun. 

jaemin really does think that was one of the best halloween's he's ever had the chance to experience. 

when they met mark a years later, they did actually go out trick or treating again. they may have skipped out on it the year before, but the addition to their group did in fact rejuvenate the motive of trick or treating. 

the now eleven and twelve year olds went out to marks neighbourhood, a different place just so that it was more interesting than their previous years.

2011

jaemin laughs as mark pushes haechan over, sending him tumbling into a bush decorated with glowing eyes and cobwebs, and similarly to the last year, haechan lets out a horrified shriek, which they all smile at. 

haechan stumbles over his feet as he tries to rid himself of the cobwebs, and renjun kindly catches the candy that spills out of his already overflowing basket. jeno smiles as he passes out the candy, and mark simply pops one of the lollipops in his mouth upon haechan noticing them. 

jaemin unplugs his headphones as he watches them all—he was only half paying attention, but upon renjun tugging at his sleeve, he was quickly snapped out of his trance as his eyes followed the elder wherever he went. 

they aren't matching this year—jaemin is matching with haechan, as thing 1 and thing 2, while renjun is dressed in his harry potter robes. jeno is prince charming and mark is simply wearing the scream mask. 

the neighbourhood is loud, with children screeching and laughter filling the air surrounding them as they're both scared and delighted by house owners. 

there wasn't a haunted house in mark's neighbourhood—but the abundance of interesting people filling each house lining the street was more than enough to entertain the excited boys. 

jaemin finds himself holding onto renjun as they walk down a darker street, with the elder laughing as he tries to push the younger away. 

"jaemin! stop being such a coward!"

he says with a laugh, and mark and donghyuck turn from where they're walking ahead of them. jeno simply smiles at the pair, before lifting renjun up onto his back and running ahead of jaemin. 

the youngest boy protests, before running after all four boys who've taken off ahead of him. 

it was a fun halloween that year. 

jaemin also remembers the next year in bittersweet fashion—the year they met chenle and jisung, and then the next year that they decided that they would just hang out as opposed to go out together. 

with most of them being fourteen and fifteen, they believed that they were too cool to trick or treat, with jisung protesting that anyone can trick or treat, but they shake it off. 

2014

jaemin enters his living room with a tray of purple squash, tinted by special request of chenle, who'd come in a skeleton onesie for the fun of it. he spots mark and haechan snuggled up together on the armchair, and sniggers as he points them out to the other four boys. 

jaemin finds a seat in between jisung and renjun, curling up as he finds the remote and lets out a sigh upon turning on the tv. his eyes linger on the way jeno has an arm around the elders shoulders, but he shakes it off. 

"what're we watching, guys?"

he asks quietly, and he gets no response at first. it's already eleven, with mark and haechan dozed off in each other's embrace. chenle isn't paying attention, with all of his energy focused on his nintendo ds. jeno finally decides to speak up, chin resting on a sleeping renjuns head as he does. 

"what about the purge?"

he murmurs, and jaemin nods, and as he points the remote ahead, he feels jisung's head loll onto his shoulder. once he puts the film on, he turns his head to see the younger asleep on his shoulder, and his cheeks tint pink just a little bit. 

just a little bit. 

despite them thinking they were too cool the year before, jisung finally begins to rub off on them throughout the years and they agree that they'll go out and trick or treat one last time. 

as they grow closer, jaemin soon realises that him and jisung get along quite well, deeming themselves best friends. he also notices jeno and renjun growing closer and closer each month, and he begins to resent jeno, despite their seemingly lifelong friendship. 

he snaps that year, breaking something that nobody thought was possible to damage. a friendship with one of his oldest friends. 

2015

jaemin scowls as he watches renjun and jeno walk ahead of him, chenle and jisung. mark and haechan are trailing behind them, jaemin can hear it. but he's in a bitter trance as he watches jeno and renjun link hands, with the elder skipping along, happier than jaemin's ever seen him. 

chenle notices, tugging at jaemin's cape—they're all monsters this year, fitting of their changing personalities—jaemin's a vampire, renjun is a skeleton, mark and haechan are zombies, jeno is a mummy, and chenle and jisung are 'demons' as they call themselves. 

they're just lazy. 

but jaemin pays no attention to chenle, and he feels his anger and frustration building inside him. a fire starts in his heart, heat spreading through his veins until he feels like he's burning, anger overcoming him as he snaps. 

"i'm done."

he spits outs turning and walking the opposite direction to the group. mark and haechan frown at him, but they don't turn to follow him. and neither do jeno or renjun.

only chenle and jisung turn to follow him, but he soon gets them to leave him alone as he walks home by himself. 

"fuck halloween."

that moment took a while for mark and haechan to get over, but soon they forgave him. it was honestly just a surprise, as the younger boy had always had such a sunny disposition, they hadn't seen him lash out—ever. 

renjun and jeno however, didn't bother to hear his explanation. jaemin was already heartbroken upon learning that jeno and renjun had started dating, but his heart was shattered into a million pieces when he tried to talk to them and they just walked away. 

jisung and chenle however, were there for him from the minute he met him—and jaemin just hadn't realised. 

2016

jisung hugs jaemin tightly as the elder boy cries into his hands, choked off sobs wracking his body and leaving him breathless. 

"i've fucked everything up, jisung..."

he says, shaky voice matching his shaky hands, with his sobs punctuating his sad demeanour. the younger boy shakes his head, holding jaemin even tighter. 

"it's ok, hyung. we're always gonna be here for you..."

he says quietly, voice trailing off as if he had something he wanted to say. 

as jaemin listens to jisung talk, an unfamiliar feeling bubbles up in his chest, bursting and spreading some kind of warmth through his chest. chenle reaches over and ruffles his hair gently. 

"it's alright."

jaemin loves his two younger friends, almost like siblings. so when chenle announces to the remaining friends that he has to leave the country before this halloween, their hearts all simultaneously break. 

2017

jaemin sniffles as he looks up at the night sky from donghyuck's balcony. the older boy has a hand on his shoulder, with mark and jisung standing alongside them. 

their once happy band of cheerful friends, the ones that promised they wouldn't ever leave each other's sides, the ones that caused all this heartbreak. 

tonight on halloween, they've given up trying to be happy—jisung especially. the one who was urging them to trick or treat, or play a prank, or hang out together, has lost his shine. 

mark suddenly clears his throat, and they all immediately look at him. he has the most solemn look on his face, and jaemin's heart drops. 

"i'm uh. i'm leaving. soon. as in like, next month."

he announces, voice cracking, and suddenly donghyuck is in tears, wrapped up in mark's arms. jaemin and jisung follow, hugging both boys tightly as all four of them devolve into tears. 

"i love you guys.."

mark stutters, and jaemin's heart pretty much disintegrates. jisung hugs him from behind, and donghyuck sobs even louder. 

"we love you too."

so from then on, jaemin, donghyuck and jisung stuck together. fiercely. they didn't do anything without each other, instead deciding to try and move on. 

jaemin decides that halloween is the worst holiday. like it has a vendetta against him, based on his last few years and it's track history. 

so two years later, when donghyuck announces that he's moving, the last of jaemin's original friends from all those years ago, he thinks that his luck has run out. 

2019, now. 

jisung and him sit silently in the younger boys room, with the taller of the two sat on a beanbag on the floor. jaemin looks down at him from his place on the twin bed, and the two meet eyes amidst somber silence, punctuated by occasionally thunder and an electric flash from outside. 

jisung is actually the first to break the silence, clearing his throat and rumbling out with his shaky voice, immediately getting jaemin’s attention. 

“jaem.. what’re we gonna do now?”

he asks quietly, and jaemin is at a loss for words. jisung leans forwards after a few seconds, lifting himself up and settling next to jaemin. the older boy looks at him with an unreadable expression, before his eyes fill with tears. jisung immediately hugs him, his own eyes glazing over with a layer of salty tears, and jaemin sniffles. 

“i don’t know.”

the shorter boy says, and jisung shakes his head. 

“lets forget about it for.. for tonight?” 

jisung says, and jaemin nods, relaxing into their hug a little bit more. 

“yeah.”

he says shortly, and they devolve back into silence again. but this time it’s a slight bit more comforting. jaemin looks up at jisung through this long lashes, and the younger boy feels a pout tug at his lips. 

“jaem.” 

he says after a second, and jaemin makes a soft sound of acknowledgment. jisung almost can’t control himself. 

“can i tell you something?”

jisung asks quietly, almost too shy to say it. jaemin looks at him, brows furrowing a little, but he flinches as he hears a lightning strike and thunder clap outside. 

“yeah, sung. you can.”

jaemin replies quietly, and jisung looks down at him with what can be described as pure adoration. the younger boy is suddenly so overcome with emotions that he’s been building up for the last few years, that he can’t help but let them all go. 

he leans forwards, holding jaemin’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, pressing a light, chaste kiss to the older boy’s lips. jaemin gasps lowly in surprise, but to jisung’s surprise, he kisses back. 

jisung pulls away, only to see jaemin with pink cheeks and matching pink lips. but the older boy skips the talk and pulls him by the back of the head into another kiss, even softer than before. jisung slowly brings a hand up to cup the older boys jaw, and finds himself leaning back against the headboard, with an armful of jaemin leaning into him. 

they kiss languidly, with jaemin’s head spinning as he feels jisung pull him the slightest bit closer by his jaw, the younger boys normally cold hands bringing a chill to his searing hot skin and sending a spark down his spine. 

jaemin slowly pulls away, eyes blown with surprise and cheeks even pinker than before. he suddenly forgets about the laughter outside, the thunder and lightning racking through his body, as his focus is turned onto jisung. the younger boy looks back at him with an equally startled expression. 

the older boy looks at jisung for a few seconds, before stuttering out his next words. 

“jisung.. i uh—maybe i..”

he takes another deep breath, but jisung beats him to it. 

“jaemin, i like you. like, really, really like you.”

he says, and jaemin blushes even more than he already is. the older boy leans in, only to steal another kiss from jisung’s soft lips, and he smiles. 

“maybe i like you too.”

maybe halloween isn’t so bad.


End file.
